The next plate came in a matter of minutes.
In the hour she spent at that restaurant, she tasted more than 10 dishes and
almost the same amount of beverages. She only got to taste a couple of desserts
because time was running short and she had to make it to a previous
appointment. She thanked the people at the restaurant and promised then the
review would be out soon. Their faces hoped for a good one but Laura would have
to take her notes and think twice before writing one way or the other.
Just outside the place, she took a taxi and
headed straight to her best friend’s house. His name was Samuel and he was
celebrating his birthday at home, with a nice dinner and party with many people
that he loved to hang out with. Whenever Laura and Sam were together, they were
normally just the two of them. It would be one of the only times she would join
him in a big party and she did it only because he had always being so good to
her, including recommending her to the job she had at the moment.
As Samuel worked as an software developer, he
knew a lot of people in the world of journalism and such. He recommended Laura
for a job at one of the biggest newspapers in town and she was very eager for
the opportunity but he interview was a real nightmare. It was obvious they
preferred to hire someone they knew and, for the looks of it, there were at
least three other people the day of the interview that were very well
acquainted with the editor that was handling the process.
She waited a long time until she was called and
then she felt he cold attitude of the editor. It was clear that woman didn’t
want Laura there, so she just answered her questions the best way she could
and, in only ten minutes, she was out of there. She felt so bad after the
interview that she decided to buy a big tub of ice cream to eat at home
watching cartoons or something. It was only a two weeks after the interview
when Laura finally heard from the newspaper. She had been selected for the
post.
The day she went in to sign her contract,
Laura asked why it had taken so long for them to call. After all, it was a
writing job and those were assigned fairly fast in normal circumstances. The
man that greeted her there told her, in confidence, that the editor than had
ran the interviews had been fired because of several misconducts and
potentially criminal behavior. Besides, the person she had selected was clearly
not the best one for the post. Laura did not ask any further. She was very
happy to get a job in she could finally do her two favorite things.
When she got to Samuel’s house, Laura hoped
she was early and could talk to him a little bit before more people arrived.
However, she didn’t realize her time at the restaurant had been too long and
that her taxi ride had been too slow because of the traffic jams that plagued
the city at that time of night. When she entered the apartment, she saw several
people all over, more than she had ever seen in such a small space. She moved
around carefully, trying not to push anyone.
Samuel had not been the one to open the door.
Some girl that didn’t even say a word had done that and she had disappeared
almost instantly. Laura moved around, looking for him friend. Eventually she
got to the dining room table were all the food was in display. She grabbed a
plastic plate and grabbed some of the things around the table. It was an
assortment of food, not only sweets or savory stuff. There was a little bit of
everything and she could bet Sam had not done any of them.
Laura turned around to look for a place to eat
what she had taken but there was no place to do so, so she stayed put and
grabbed a piece of quiche from her plate and ate it whole, because of the size.
Something funny was that Laura never really felt full when eating, so she could
do it for a long time and she would only stop once she felt really full. That’s
why her job was so ideal for her. Nevertheless, the piece of quiche she had in
her mouth was not the kind of food she liked.
In seconds, she grabbed four or five napkins
and spit the whole piece of food into that. She placed the ball of napkins and
chewed quiche on her plate and headed for the kitchen. She was sure she could
find a garbage can there and maybe even a space to eat the rest of the stuff.
Although, maybe, everything else was as dreadful as that tiny piece of quiche.
She had never tasted something that tasted so bad before. It was difficult to
describe, in the worst way possible.
Once in the kitchen, she found the garbage can
and a spot besides the burners. She couldn’t see her friend there but Laura
knew she would eventually see him. It was a bit ridiculous to be in his house
and not been able to talk to him at least for a while. The thought of her
talking to Sam was interrupted by a cramp, one of those that make you squeal.
It was very fortunate that the music was so loud. If it hadn’t been like that,
people would have heard a dreadful scream coming from the kitchen. Laura
grabbed her belly and looked for a glass or something similar to have some
water.
As she didn’t find any and had no problems
with shame, she drank directly from the faucet. No one was watching anyways,
they were all very concentrated on their conversations. Weary of all other food
elements on her plate, Laura decided to smell them and taste only the tiniest
pieces. There was one that looked like cake but it was very salty. She had
grabbed some cookies but they were rock hard. And something looking like
Chinese rice was undercooked.
There were some other things in there but she
decided to throw away everything. She chose the worst moment to do so because
it was right then when Samuel entered the kitchen and saw her. He waved his
hand but she clearly didn’t see him while drinking more water and then doing
this face that made it clear how awful the food was. When she noticed Sam, her
expression changed and she launched herself at him, hugging Samuel very hard,
as they usually did.
When they did, she realized she had not taken
off her coat because she could still feel the gift she had brought to her
friend. It was in a box on one of her pockets. Laura took the wrapped box out
and gave it to her friend. Samuel didn’t look very happy. Nevertheless, he took
her by the hand and travelled through the mass of people in order to get to his
room, which was empty except for a big mountain of coats and similar clothing.
Laura was surprised she could hear her own thoughts there.
She apologized to Samuel for being late and
waited for him to open his present but he didn’t. He looked at her with a very
serious expression, a very judgmental expression to be precise. For a moment,
she didn’t really understand what it was but then she realized he had seen her
throwing out the food, so she explained that it was just dreadful. She detailed
the flavors for him and advised him never to let his friends cater ever again.
It was obvious they had no idea about cooking.
Samuel threw the box she had given him to the
bed and said that his guests had not cooked anything for him. If that had been
the case, he would have wanted her to do something for the party, like the cake
for example. Instead, he explained how he had cooked every single dish.
He had wanted to make it a surprise for
everyone but especially for her, as he wanted to be supportive of her recent
job and just to connect with her in his own birthday. He sighed and left the
room, leaving a very confused Laura, whose belly roared as soon as Samuel was
gone.
